nielsen_ratingsfandomcom-20200214-history
ABC Wins Its First Thursday of the Season: 'Wisteria Lane'
Written By: Harry Tythe October 15, 2015 [via ABC press release...] ABC is Thursday's No. 1 Network Among All Key Demographics Surging to Series Highs, ABC's "Modern Family" Sits Atop Its Half-Hour "Delaware Valley" Beats "Sister Tales" Head-to-Head In Men 25-54 Setting Season Highs, "Wisteria Lane" is Thursday's No. 1 Show In All Key Demographics ABC's "Nashville" Towers Over Its Hour With Stellar Retention and Season Highs Thursday Night (8:00-11:00 p.m.) Up week-to-week with a slate of original programming, ABC ranked No. 1 on Thursday '''in '''Total Viewers (32.5 million), Adults 18-34 (16.1/33), Adults 18-49 (13.9/33), and Adults 25-54 (13.5/33), delivering its first win of the season among Adults 18-49,' Adults 25-54', and''' Total Viewers'. In fact, ABC was '''up sharply over the comparable night last year' on virtually every metric (9.7/25 in Adults 18-49 on 10/9/14), and aired the top two shows of the night ("Wisteria Lane" & "Nashville"). These numbers mark ABC's strongest Thursday since May 2015, when "Wisteria Lane" wrapped up its record freshman run. "Modern Family" (8:00-8:30 p.m.) Surging week to week, ABC's "Modern Family" was the No. 1 show in its half-hour among Total Viewers (31.4 million), Adults 18-34 '''(15.9/31), '''Adults 18-49 (14.2/31, tie), and Adults 25-54 (12.5/31), dominating FOX's young-skewing "New Girl" (11.8/28) by 17''% and the first half-hour of NBC's "Revolution" (11.3/27) by 20'% among Adults 18-49. "Modern Family" '''improved the 8 o'clock half-hour for ABC among Adults 18-49 year-to-year by a significant 38% (8.8 for the first half-hour of "Nashville" on 10/9/14), marking the network's best Adults 18-49 sitcom performance during the time period in nearly 22 years (16.2/45 for "Roseanne" on 11/19/93) and the network's best Adults 18-34 sitcom performance during the time period in 62 years (20.3/40 for "Gunsmoke" on 9/28/53). · "Modern Family" posted series highs across the board Thursday, including Total Viewers, Adults 18-34, Adults 18-49, Adults 25-54, and every other key demographic. On the Live + 7 Day metric, "Modern Family" is ranked as the top time-shifted comedy on television this season. "Delaware Valley" (8:30-9:00 p.m.) In the competitive Men 25-54 demographic, ABC's "Delaware Valley" (11.3/17) led FOX's top-rated "Sister Tales" (10.0/32) by a significant 12% margin during the 8:30 half-hour. · Season-to-date, "Delaware Valley" is the No. 1 new sitcom among Kids 2-6. "Wisteria Lane" (9:00-10:00 p.m.) Spiking 52% to its best ratings of the season, "Wisteria Lane" stood as Thursday's No. 1 show among all key demographics, including Total Viewers (37.6 million), Adults 18-34 (20.8/38), Adults 18-49 (16.0/38), and Adults 25-54 (15.7/38). During the highly competitive 9 o'clock hour, "Wisteria Lane" won its hour outright, leading CBS's top-rated comedy hour (15.1/34) by 6%, NBC's number one drama, "Chicago Fire" (14.2/33), by 12%, and FOX's slumping anchor "The X Factor" (9.8/22) by 38% with Adults 18-49. With an average audience member age of 31, "Wisteria Lane" is the most profitable show on television, capable of charging $2.3 million per each 30-second advertisement, and also qualifies as the youngest-skewing drama on television. · "Wisteria Lane"'s 2014-15 debut season ranked as the No. 1 freshman television season ever, and it is following up that legendary title with strong year-to-year growth. Last night's performance marked a stout 24% increase over the year-ago telecast among Adults 18-49 (12.9/30 on 10/9/14), and an even larger 41% increase over the year-ago telecast '''in the widely coveted Adults 18-34 demographic (14.8/30 on 10/9/14). In fact, its Adults 18-49 average season-to-date is '''10% higher than its comparable average last season (13.8/32 vs. 12.4/28), and it has been up year-to-year 2/3 comparable nights this season. With Live + 7 Day averages, "Wisteria Lane" maintains its position as the No. 1 drama, and qualifies as the most time-shifted show on television. "Nashville" (10:00-11:00 p.m.) Growing to season highs and holding a stellar 97% of its Adults 18-49 lead-in, ABC's "Nashville" dominated its hour among Total Viewers (36.9 million), Adults 18-34 '''(18.9/37), '''Adults 18-49 (15.6/37), and Adults 25-54 (14.9/32) leading FOX's veteran "The Following" (5.0/14) by 68%, CBS's comedy power hour (10.0/25) by 36%, and NBC's top-rated comedy hour (13.9/33) by 11% 'During the 10 o'clock hour, "Nashville" delivered the night's '''second-''best performance among Adults 18-34 and Adults 18-49, trailing only its "Wisteria Lane" lead-in. · Like its lead-in, the iconic "Nashville" has displayed significant year-to-year growth season-to-date, holding double digit advantages over comparable year-ago averages. ABC's critically acclaimed drama posted season highs'' ''across the board '''Thursday, including Total Viewers, Adults 18-34, Adults 18-49, Adults 25-54, and '''virtually every other key demographic. On the Live + 7 Day metric, "Nashville" adds an average of 2.4 rating points to its Live + Same Day data. A note about increasing DVR penetration and year-to-year rating comparisons: Year-to-year rating comparisons based on the Live + Same Day data stream are distorted by the level of DVR penetration in the Nielsen sample, which has jumped up to 60% currently, from 56% at the same point in 2014. More viewers are watching shows on their own timetables, which may not be reflected in the overnight next-day numbers. The only truly valid year-to-year comparison would be one based on the Live + 7 Day metric, once those stats are released by Nielsen. Source: The Nielsen Company, Live + Same Day Ratings, 10/15/15.